Leaping Jaguar bonnet mascot

[Old Peter]

Thomas has tried it out, Phil, and there is also another member who has tried it out on the autobahns.

 

But, as I have always said,  your car, your choice.

 

Peter. 

[Old Peter]

 

All the way from Hong Kong,

 

Peter.

[miken]

Looks good!!

[Raistlin]

Looks great Peter. Are you pleased with it?

 

Hmm... I'm beginning to think that there will be quite a few S Types withh leapers on the bonnet soon

[Old Peter]

Very pleased, Paul.

 

I measured it up very carefully, and after cleaning the surface with white spirit, and drying it off thoroughly, pressed it on firmly.

 

In the event of contact in an accident, the leaper will swivel.

 

Peter. 

[Mr Lawrence]

What is it actually made of??

[Old Peter]

Hi Andy,

 

It is not steel or an iron casting, unless it has a low ferrous, high chrome  content.

 

It is probably an alloy, but without a lab test I could not be sure of the exact compound.  It certainly has chromium in it.

 

I used to work in the steel industry and got to know bits like that.  I still carry a small magnet around.

 

Peter. 

[Mr Lawrence]

It looks good!!

[Raistlin]

What is it actually made of??

Mine seems to have the weight of chromium plated brass, and is certainly not magnetic.

[Mr Lawrence]

Mine too, seems we bought the same one!!

[Old Peter]

I am thinking that it could be made of an amalgam using an element of mild steel, which is cheap and plentiful, plus several other metals amenable to casting including brass , and then chrome electroplated.  The Chinese are rather good at that.

 

Mine has some weight, but probably not as heavy as those with a screw fitting.

 

Peter.

[Diddler]

No drilling required, mine took about 10 mins to fit.

[Raistlin]

S type cars with bonnet leapers seem to be rapidly becoming a statistically significant sub species :D

[Nightwing]

So I have ordered from the same seller as recommended here. The price is now £25 inc p&p.

Puzzled by the vast difference in the price points. Some are in the circa £50 mark. The one from one of the recommended dealers is a few hundred pounds. Why?

[Mr Lawrence]

Quality is the difference at the top end of the price bracket.

At the lower end it all depends on how greedy the seller is regarding profit margins.

I paid around £15 for mine and after 2 years and 1 swap over its still as good as new.

[Nightwing]

Adamesh have one at £60 and one at £320 wonder what the difference between them and £25 offers on eBay?

If anyone knows, be good to hear.

[O.T.H]

Hi Amal

I got mine from eBay £22 and its made of a heavy metal and very well made big spring on the bottom and knocks round just as it should .

 

Frank

[Nightwing]

Thanks, it arrived and it's very nice.

[Rooster]

A stck on leader ?

[Old Peter]

Hi Bruce and welcome to the club,

 

I have a stick on and it seems very secure.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Peter.

[dinkydimps]

My better half saw the advert for my s type(complete with leaper) on tinternet and announced that's the one! done deal from then on. 

[PD Miller]

If your bonnet already has a round 3Litre badge presumably you won't have to drill it to fit a leaper. My XJ has one and when I bought the car I intended to take it off and put a badge in it's place to hide the holes,Sadly it is held in place with the strongest adhesive known to man as well as a big plastic nut. We tolerate each other now but it sneers at me every time I look at it. 

I suppose it can stay there a bit longer as it has sort of grown on me.

 

Hi Paul 

Excuse me for talking s---e. I didn't notice the 4 previous pages regarding drilling the bonnet.

Pete

[Nightwing]

Hello all, it's been a while...seasons greetings...welcome Bruce.

Bruce, in reply to your question, the leaper I installed is a swivel drilled in one. After much deliberation I went for it, but didn't trust myself go install it. Paid a local young mobile mechanic who operates in and around my village to do it. He did an excellent job. So carefully that I knew I made the right decision not to install it myself. Besides the drill and bit he brought with him are are professional bits I don't even have.

HPN....all.

[Russ68]

I share our S-Type with my father in law, and being that she's the 7th car we own between us both, the car share arrangement works very well. He has been adamant about wanting the leaper since we bought the car, and as he was a good boy this year, I bought him one ;)

 

I choose a UK supplier from eBay, Birmingham based, called tech98 who exceeded expectations. I paid £22.99 and it looks fantastic, really decent quality. Can't wait to fit it, so thanks to Paul and everyone else for the encouragement :) 

 

PS. Despite being car no 4 in my fleet, I've had cause to use her virtually full time over Xmas and she's been awesome! Some minor issues have sorted themselves with use, including the locking issues I mentioned previously. Pretty sure the water pump and or alternator is about to go but I've got a stethoscope to identify these and this is par for the course as far as I'm concerned...

[Raistlin]

Had to be done Russ

 

There are several S-Types linked to this forum now with leapers.